Doig River First Nation

Territory-wide Land Use Planning

A Nation-led plan for addressing the cumulative impact of development across the region and to protect key cultural and ecological areas critical for supporting the Dene-zaa way of life while fostering community prosperity. This regional-scale plan is based on cultural studies, mapped cultural sites and use areas, habitat and cumulative effects modeling, industrial tenures and many rounds of community engagement. The Dene-zaa concept of Ke̱ Maah, a term that means a good place in nature, was used to help establish the direction of the Plan, and the vital components of the territory that are necessary to support Dene-zaa livelihoods. The plan establishes a vision, foundational goals and management objectives for different planning areas, and provides clear, zone-based and sector-based policy directives for stewarding the traditional territory back to a healthy baseline condition. It will serve as the basis for decision-making on land and resource use throughout Doig’s territory.

Mapping

The Plan establishes planning boundaries at different scales- from entire watersheds, down to specific lakes and rivers. Each planning area is designed to ensure the enhanced management of different aspects of Ke̱ Maah.

Field work

Off-reserve land use planning requires working with data that demonstrates the fullest extent of the Nation’s connection to the land, as indicated by the trail network that was mapped throughout the planning process. As an additional outcome, the team re-cut and re-opened certain key trails to help enable members to spend more time on the land, maintain visibility throughout the territory, and to help implement the Plan.

Engagement

Members, land users, elders, leadership, staff, and technical support were engaged in large and small-group formats, leveraging Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science perspectives from different generations, family groups and subject matter experts.